Elizabeth Haynes (3) (1971–)

Something very evocatively scary happens in the first pages of Elizabeth Haynes’ novel Dark Tide, setting the scene for a very dark story indeed. It’s a story told in multiple points of view, with converging timelines that move irrevocably to or from that very first scene. And nobody is quite what they seem.

Details ring authentically true, from depictions of peaceful houseboat life to the shadows of London’s criminal underworld, from haunting mystery to haunted memory, and from show more sunshine to rain. Newly remodeled houseboat rooms hide as many secrets as a newly remodeled life. And a dark tide turns an over-the-top housewarming party into questions of accidental death.

Elizabeth Haynes’ novel is filled with believably odd characters, none of them perfect, but with shining lights of goodness. Relationships can be shelter or escape. But behind it all is the question of who is truly good—or if true goodness can be found by someone so flawed. It’s a story that draws the reader into worlds they might not wish to visit, through the eyes of a flawed protagonist, and sends them, like a houseboat whose engine has never been tried, into dangerous waters. It’s a good story, seductive, sad, filled with questions, but overarchingly filled with that aching search for goodness, trust and truth.

I really enjoyed this novel.

Disclosure: I bought it on a deal when my basement was flooded – dark tides indeed. show less

BLURB: Catherine has been enjoying the single life for long enough to know a good catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic and spontaneous – Lee seems almost too good to be true. And her friends clearly agree, as each in turn falls under his spell.
But Lee’s erratic and sometimes controlling behaviour makes Catherine feel increasingly isolated. Driven into the darkest corner of her world, she plans a meticulous escape.
Four years later, and struggling to overcome her demons, show more Catherine dares to believe she might be safe from harm. Until one phone call changes everything…
This is a dark, disturbing and extremely accomplished first novel from Elizabeth Hayes.

REVIEW : The book opens with in May 2005, with a transcript of a scene set in Lancaster Crown Court. Lee Brightman is giving evidence against Catherine who he says had some emotional problems and was violent towards him. He confesses he did hit her, once in ‘self defence’. At once we have a sense of how their relationship ended. The author then cleverly weaves Catherine’s story between two timeframes: her time with Brightman in 2003/4 and later in 2007/8.

Catherine, pre Lee, is vivacious and outgoing and anything but a victim and her descent into a life abuse and isolation is shocking and so believable. She is reduced to a lonely, terrified woman with OCD and PTS, constantly in thrall to her checking the security of her home and restricting her life. As a reader you engage with Catherine right from the beginning as she talks about her compulsive need to check the locks on the door to her flat over and over again whilst acknowledging how ridiculous it is.


Gritty, tense, compulsive reading, you actually can feel your anxiety grow as you read certain passages and you have no idea how this will end. The pacing is superb with the author slowly building a feeling of unease, tension and suspense until you are almost as wound up as Catherine.
This is an edgy and powerful first novel, utterly convincing in its portrayal of obsession, and a tour de force of suspense.

One of my books of the year show less

Give me a book set on an island and I'll jump at the chance to read it. Make that island a Scottish one and I'm even more excited. Then make it a remote Scottish island and I'm off the scale! You, Me and the Sea is that book. It's set on the fictional island of Must, not far away from the real island of May. It marks a departure in style for Elizabeth Haynes, but proves her versatility as a writer and I hope that she might write more in a similar vein.

Rachel finds herself arriving on Must show more and escaping her Norwich life, even if only for a while, when she takes up a temporary position looking after the bird observatory on the island. The very definition of remote, there are only two other permanent residents, one of whom shouldn't actually be there. Fraser is a bear of a man, scary at first but then all of his many kindnesses are introduced. He doesn't want to share 'his' lighthouse with Rachel but he has no choice. And then there's Lefty, a young lad, a stowaway. Why is he there?

From the moment I settled down to read and spotted the map at the beginning, to the wonderful ending, I was captivated by this book. The setting is amazing and incredibly well-drawn. I really felt as though I could put myself there on the island. It's quite inhospitable but it grows on Rachel and it definitely grew on me too. Like many readers I'm sure, I would love to be able to visit it and am sorry it's not real (it certainly felt real).

The cast of characters is tiny. There are the three inhabitants and a few other characters who have minor roles. To keep a story about so few people so intense, so moving, so full of raw emotion, and so enthralling says a lot about the author's writing abilities. I could have carried on reading about the people and the island way past the end point.

You, Me and the Sea is a story of love, passion, revenge, loss, fear and vulnerability. There's still a hint of the author's gritty crime/thriller writing in there (this is definitely not a fluffy romance) but ultimately it's a beautiful story of three lost people finding their way amidst the stark landscape of a Scottish island. I absolutely loved it. show less

Behind Closed Doors by Elizabeth Haynes
Harper, 2015
Crime Fiction; 496 pgs

Behind Closed Doors by Eizabeth Haynes is the author's second book in the Detective Inspector Louisa Smith series. Much like the first book in the series, Under a Silent Moon, Haynes takes the reader into the heart of a police investigation. Where this book differs, however, is in its presentation and intensity. Interspersed with the investigation is the third person narrative from young Scarlett, retelling her account show more of being kidnapped and her eventual return to her hometown ten years later. It is a harrowing story, one that feels all too real.

Louisa, or Lou as she is often called, is already in the middle of two other investigations (that of a 19 year old who was badly beaten and the murder of a bar owner found half buried in the woods) that may or may not be connected, when she is asked to assist with another investigation, that involving a 10 year old missing person case. Lou had been on the team initially investigating the disappearance of the 15 year old girl named Scarlett in the beginning. Scarlett disappeared while out of the country with her family on vacation. No evidence turned up, nor did the girl. Her family hadn't been especially forthcoming with information, which raised a lot of questions. Did the girl run away? Was she abducted? Or had she been killed? No one knew. At least not until Scarlett was discovered 10 years later in a brothel in Briarstone.

Interest in Scarlett is high given her ties to a human trafficking ring. The authorities would love it if she could provide them with key names and connections in order to finally bring down some major players in the industry. Only, Scarlett isn't talking. She holds her secrets close.

The reader gets a little more intimate look into the lives of two of the series' continuing characters. There is Louisa Smith, whose work is her life. She struggles with commitment issues and letting herself love. In some books, the love story lightens the overall story arch of the book, but in this case, it adds to the complicated person Louisa is and just how all consuming her work can be. I think Jason, her love interest, is a wonderful man--supportive and thoughtful. I also know that if Lou doesn't open herself more fully to him, she is going to lose him.

Then there is DS Sam Hollands who also played a prominent role in previous book. Lou trusts her and relies heavily in Sam's abilities in being able to connect with people, and with good reason. She is extremely capable. Lou assigns her to Scarlett in the hopes Sam can get Scarlett to open up about her experiences. Sam finds herself drawn to the other woman, who seems both fragile and strong at the the same time. Sam struggles internally with keeping her distance and getting too close. Haynes allows the reader to see a side of Hollands we haven't yet seen before--and may I say how much I love the character? I could easily see her as the main character in a book.

What most impressed me about Behind Closed Doors was how accurate and close to reality the novel was. I am sure the author's background as an analyst in law enforcement and her extensive research played a part in that. Scarlett's story of human trafficking is a familiar one for those who work with people who have been forced into that life, from her childhood background to the life she was forced to lead. As a parent the very idea of human trafficking chills me to the bone. I imagine it would even if I wasn't a parent. Using humans in that way . . . It's appalling and horrific. Human trafficking is very much a problem of today, and the more people become aware of it, perhaps there is a chance lives can be saved.

Scarlett is an incredibly strong woman who has been through a lot. It is hard to know whether one can trust her or not as the story continues. Why does she insist on keeping so many secrets? Is it fear? Or something else. She clearly is a victim--a survivor--and I, as the reader, could not help but feel for her and care about her. Her relationship with her family is not a good one, glimpses of which the reader gets throughout the novel.

Despite the fact that this novel stands very well on its own and does not require the reader having read the first book in the series, there are some continuing story threads which I especially liked and gave me, as the reader, a better sense of Briarstone and the community--at least the criminal side of it. Reading Behind Closed Doors made me appreciate Under a Silent Moon more (if that's possible) as a result.

As always, I enjoy being able to see the inner workings of an investigation, how seemingly random information can eventually come together to form a full picture and solve a crime. Haynes is an incredible writer who has the ability to make the minutest of information seem interesting and significant to the story. And she has a way of drawing out her characters that is both subtle and full. I have yet to be disappointed by one of her books, and this one is no different.

At almost 500 pages, I never felt the book needed less--it was just perfect. While the intensity in this novel was high, I admit there were moments I had to set it down for awhile, the darkness of it was too heavy, the reality of it too frightening. It's books like these that scare me more than any horror novel ever could because of how true to life it is. Elizabeth Haynes has officially become one of my all time favorite crime fiction writers. I hope you will give her books a try. show less